The series starts off with a rock solid premise: the Abyss, a giant hole through the earth filled with valuable artifacts, uninimaginable creatures and realities beyond human comprehension. A city was built around this mysterious void on the surface and Divers are adventuring towards what seems to be the center of the earth, with their journey becoming increasingly difficult the deeper they go. A story about a giant abyss very reminiscent of Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell, with a side of archaeology and a good amount of mystery? What's more to ask for? As an archaeologist myself and very avid reader, this premise had me extremely excited.
Unfortunately, as the story progresses, everything just falls flat. The sense of adventure and exploration is almost non-existent, the duality between the very young and innocent protagonists and the absurdly dangerous abyss they venture into is negated by plot conveniences, the ethical aspect of the Divers retrieving ancient relics and selling them on the surface isn't touched upon, the mystery generated by the Abyss is for the most part uninteresting because of how easily every question is answered, and the laws regarding the Abyss make absolutely no sense.
STORY
Very straightforward; Riko, the main character, wants to find her mom, a white whistle, who seems to be waiting for her at the bottom of the Abyss. The goal is thus very simple, to descend into the Abyss, but the execution is extremely difficult, facing the dangers this place has to offer. There isn't much to say about the story in itself, it just works. However, what doesn't work is the way it is executed. As mentionned above, I was expecting an adventure full of dangers and anguish, ripe with discovery of an ancient civilisation but also self-discovery, fear and doubts, regrets and hope. Almost none of that is present in this anime. Although the Abyss is presented as a very threatening place to go in, and almost impossible to come back from, the two protagonists of the story seem to just breeze through the various layers of this giant hole. Everytime danger arises, it is quickly taken care of by Reg, who just happens to be a robot equipped with a weapon "that defies the laws of the Abyss". When Reg finally finds himself faced with an opponent too strong for him, it is quickly revealed that she was just testing him and Riko. When Riko gets stabbed by a poisonous creature, a new character is conveniently introduced. She conveniently happens to have a immortal blob as a friend who conveniently can produce an antidote capable of curing Riko. Just when I thought Riko's own actions and carelessness would have consequences, i.e. her losing an arm, she is quickly taken care of and healed.
It is hard to really feel any sort of tension when nothing seems to be able to seriously threaten the protagonists. Reg is a seemingly immortal robot and Riko is equipped with the strongest plot armor she could find.
CHARACTERS
This is by far the show's most prominent issue. Almost none of the characters are interesting. Side characters are very quickly forgotten and don't really add anything to the story. Riko and Reg are headed into the depths of the earth, so one would think that the various dangers and characters they meet along the way would change their perceptions of the Abyss, of its creatures, of its artifacts; they would learn from these encounters and become better prepared to face this place and its hazards. Except they don't. Riko does learn some informations about her past but even this big plot twist actually doesn't matter because it doesn't actually change anything in the story, atleast in the first season. The various species of creatures they encounter also don't seem to alter in any way Riko's view on the Abyss. It's like she doesn't realize this place is dangerous and just keeps running off on her own despite being completely defenseless. This could be a way to add depth to her character and to emphasize her innocence by confronting her with the horrors of the Abyss. But one would expect some sort of character development from these encounters. Needless to say, Riko doesn't go through any developement throughout the series. She simply realizes, towards the start of her adventure that she is defenseless without Reg, but she seems to quickly forget that.
Speaking about Riko, there is almost nothing compelling about her character. Apart from knowing how to cook, she is pretty much useless. The story is basically the same as an escort mission from a video game where Reg has to make sure nothing serious happens to Riko. Reg is not a bad character, he is just very bland. Although he lost his memories, he doesn't seem to question anything around him. Is he a robot? If he is a robot, why does he act exactly the same as a human? Where does he come from? Why was he trying to go back to the surface? Why did he lose his memories? The relationship between Riko and Reg is very straightforward but one has to question why Reg is so intent on helping Riko reach the bottom of the Abyss; after all, he doesn't owe her anything, he's going on a near suicide mission just because? Maybe this will be explained later in the story.
The only other character that matters is Nanachi, and she is by far the most complex of the main trio. Without going into details, she actually has personal motivations which are a clever twist on a common trope and wants to use the protagonists to achieve her goal. Her backstory was way more interesting than anything else and I would've rather watched an anime with her as the main character.
One thing to note about the main characters is that they're all very young. As mentionned a clash between innocence and horrors could be an interesting path to character development, but that development just doesn't exist. I can't help but feel that the same show with adults as the main protagonists would've been infinitely better. Furthermore, the constant sexualization of Riko and Reg is greatly disturbing. Do we really need that many details about Reg having a penis depsite being a robot? Do we really need to see Riko naked at every turn, her clothes drenched in pee? I did say at the start of the review that I wanted a story about self-discovery, but I wasn't really thinking about this. Sexual discovery for children is obviously a very important and interesting topic, but it just seems out of place in the context of this anime.
WORLD
The world that the show takes place in is by far its most interesting part and will probably manage to maintain most viewer's (myself included) attention. It is engrossing, fascinatingly disturbing and frighteningly compelling. An Abyss filled with the ruins of an ancient civilization and grotesque monsters, the potential is infinite. Unfortunately, as I was watching the anime, I kept wanting more. I wanted to know about the world outside the Abyss, about the city around it, about how it was discovered, about how the discovery affected everything else, about the relics being sold on the surface, about the different layers, about the different whistles colors, about the creatures inside the hole, about the relationships between the different species and their environment, about how the Divers managed to go to the sixth layer and come back, about the different manmade structures, about this ancient civilization, ... But the anime just doesn't want to give exposition. It barely explains anything about what makes it interesting in the first place. The story is also full of plot conveniences where rules regarding the Abyss are only explained when the characters need to make use of them. Everything just feels extremely artificial.
It's a good opportunity to talk about pacing here. What makes the world of Made in Abyss even more infuriating, is that the story's pacing is all over the place. The anime spends 3(?) episodes on the surface introducing side characters that play no role in the story. Riko and Reg then take the plunge into the Abyss. We are also introduced to an array of different whistles that correpond to the depth their owner can go to. These actually do not matter because our two protagonists just rush through the first 3 or 4 layers with ease. The anime then spends a few episodes developing Nanachi's character and backstory, which is the best part of the show. And I feel like this is how every layer should've been. An opportunity for our protagonists to encounter side characters which will help them discover more about the Abyss and themselves and become more prepared to face it. But they don't need that because the Abyss is actually not really dangerous or they're just really lucky.
ENJOYMENT
I really wanted to enjoy this show, the synopsis got me very excited to say the least. The start was promising albeit a bit slow, but then the descent into the Abyss was just a mess of poor pacing, plot conveniences, lackluster character development and world building. The mystery surrounding the Abyss and the situations in which the characters could find themselves in still managed to keep me interested and make me watch to the end of the first season.
If you don't mind a mediocre story with even more mediocre characters Made in Abyss should definitely manage to keep you entertained thanks to its nightmarish yet beautiful world.
